Ballast cleaning machine



April 10, 1934.

F. SPENO 1,953,979

BALLAST CLEANING MACHINE Filed April 18 1931 6 Sheets-Sheet l toe April 10, 1934. F. SPENO BALLAST CLEANING MACHINE Filed April 18 1931 6 Sheets-Sheet 2 Wm RN WW 9W m6 J7/ v //V //-///v g 3 W. $9 0 r 9 v April 10, 1934. F. sPENO BALLAST CLEANING MACHINE Filed April 18, 1931 e Sheefs-Sheet s April 10, 1934. F. SPENO BALLAST CLEANING MACHINE Filed 'Aprill8 1931 v 6 Sheets-Sheet 4 April 10, 1934. HF. s'F'ENo BALLAST CLEANING MACHINE Filed April 18 1931 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 April F, SPENQ 1,953,979

' I v BALLAST CLEANING MACHINE Filed April 18, 1951 e Sheets-Sheet 6 Patented Apr. 10, 1934 1,952,979 BALLAST, CLEANING MACHINE Frank Speno, Ithaca, N. Y.

Application April 18, 1931, Serial No. 531,188

17 Claims.

This invention relates to an improvement in ballast cleaning machines, and more particularly to the construction of a scoop for a ballast cleaning machine of the general type shown in my former application Serial No. 283,669, filed June 7, 1928, although the invention may be used in connection with any suitable machine where it is desired to scoop up material and deliver the same to a suitable conveyer.

With ballast cleaning machines of this type, it is desirable to remove the ballast from between the ties of a railroad track to the spaces at the ends of the ties, which is usually accomplished by manual labor, in order that this ballast may be gathered up by a ballast cleaning machine to be cleaned and redeposited between the ties or wherever desired.

Heretofore, it has been the practice either not to clean the ballast at all or to clean it only by manual labor, but a machine of this character can effectively clean the ballast at a very small fraction of the cost of the manual cleaning, and serves to keep the ballast in a cleaned condition, which could not be done where it is not cleaned at all.

My former application above mentioned sets forth a machine of this character, and the present invention is directed to improvements in the construction of the scoop for said machine, which improvements have been found to improve the operation of the machine and to improve the manner of gathering up the ballast and delivering it to a. conveyer for transport to the screening mechanism of the machine. Provision is made for preventing dust or dirt from falling out of the lower portion of the scoop onto the lower run of the conveyer in the scoop, and in that way preventing it from getting clogged or caked on the surface of the conveyer rolls, which would interfere with the proper operation of the conveyer.

A blower pipe is also provided in order to blow any dust that may accumulate on the lower run of the conveyer off of the same before such portion of the conveyer reaches the conveyer roll.

Other improvements are made in the construc tion of the scoop, the connection of the shoe therewith, and the operation of the conveyer belt, all of which contribute to the gathering up of the ballast in an expeditious manner and transporting the same to the screening mechanism of the machine.

In the accompanying drawings:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a portion of the ballast cleaning machine, showing the improved scoop applied thereto;

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view through the scoop;

Fig. 3 is a top plan view of the scoop shoe removed from the scoop;

Fig. 3a is a detail sectional view through the nozzle.

Fig. 4 is a side elevation of said scoop shoe;

Fig. 5 is a detail longitudinal sectional View through a portion of the scoop and shoe, and showing the shear pin arranged therebetween;

Fig. 6 is a top plan view thereof;

Fig. 7 is a perspective view of the dirt guard pan removed;

Fig. 8 is a sectional view taken approximately on the line 8-8 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 9 is a similar view taken approximately on the line 9-9 of Fig. 1; V

Fig; 10 is a perspective view of one of the dust guards removed;

Fig; 11 is a partial sectional view taken approximately on the line 11l1 of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 12 is a similar view on the line 1212 of Fig. 1.

The scoop structure is shown as applied to a ballast cleaning machine of the type set forth in my above referred to application, Serial No. 283,669, filed June 7, 15928, and only a portion of which complete machine is illustrated in the drawings but is sufficient to show the application of the invention thereto, and reference is made to the said application for any further understanding of the complete machine.

The ballast cleaning machine is, for convenience, supported upon a suitable fiat car, designated generally by the numeral 1, and has the usual supporting wheels 2 which travel on a railroad track 3, the track being in turn supported on cross-ties i, which form a part of the track. The track is normally held in place by the ballast which is deposited between the crossties and beneath the rails, and in order to clean this ballast it must be shoveled out to the ends of the ties in position to be gathered up by the scoop of the ballast cleaning machine, as the machine is drawn along the track by the attachment of a locomotive, for instance, to the fiat car 1, or in any other suitable way of propelling the machine forward along the track.

As a means of supporting the scoop at a side of the car 1 and to permit vertical adjustment thereof relative to the car, supporting screws 5 are provided, which screws are journaled in bearings 6 in a frame 7, which is suspended from a side of the car 1 and said frame may, if desired, be mounted for swinging movement thereon in order to permit folding the scoops up out of the way when not in use, as set forth in my above referred-to application.

Each of the screws 5 has a gear 8 fixed thereto to rotate the same, and which gears 8 are driven by bevel pinions 9 mounted on a shaft 10, which is in turn supported in bearings 11 on the frame 7. The shaft is in turn driven by gearing 12 and a sprocket chain 13 from a main drive shaft 14 extending lengthwise of the machine on the flat car 1, and which main drive shaft 14 may be driven from a suitable motor (not shown).

The scoop includes a frame having channel bar sides 15, shown in Figs. 1, 8 and 12, which are held in spaced relation by angle iron spacers 16 secured to both of the side channel bars at their opposite ends.

Rear arms 17 are suspended from the rear end. portions of the channel bars 15 and are rigidly fixed thereto, as shown in Fig. 8, which rear arms 17 are held in spaced relation by stiffener braces 18. The lower ends of the rear arms 17 carry horizontally disposed guide members 19, which are spaced apart as shown in Fig. 8 and are rigidly fixed to the lower ends of the arms 17. The forward end portions of the guide members. 19 are fixed. to the lower ends of the side channels 15, and these channels and guide members haveafront scoop arm 20 fixed thereto and extending across the scoop, as shown in Fig. 11. Elevating nuts 21 and 22 are fixed to the inner sides. ofv the scoop arms 17 and 20 to support the scoop' from the screws 5 and to permit vertical adjustment thereof upon rotation of the screws, to vary the cutting depth of the scoop relative to the track.

Each of the guide members 19 has a channel 23. formed. on the inner side thereof to receive supporting tracks 24 extending laterally from the upper edges of side members 25 of a shoe for the scoop, which shoe is shown detached in Figs. 3 and 4. Arranged between the side members 25 at their forward ends is a transversely plate 26 as by bolts 29. A toe-plate is disposed in alignment with the upper edges of the teeth 27' and spacers 28 and is supported between the side members 25, as shown. in Figs. 2 and 3, to direct the scooped material upwardly from the teeth.

A roll or pulley 31 is mounted on a shaft 32, mounted in bearings in the side members 25, and a belt conveyer 33 extendsover the roll 31. and over a pulley 34 at its opposite end. Guide rollers 35 are arranged beneath the upper run of the conveyer 33, as shown in Figs. 2 and 8, which guide rollers are arranged in units and are inclined to form the upper run of the conveyer in. a general channel shape, as is shown particularly in Fig. 8. Brackets 36 extend upwardly from the angle bars 16 to support the rollers 35.

Dirt guards 37. are secured to the inner sides of the guide members 19, as shown in Figs. 2 and 9, and have flanges 38 extending laterally therefrom toward each other, and these flanges have beveled forward ends 39 in position to substantially abut against the upper beveled edge of the toeplate 30, when the shoe is in its forward position, in. order to direct the dirt and ballast onto the upper run of the conveyer 33 and to prevent the dirt from falling off of the opposite sides of the conveyer belt and onto the upper side of the lower run thereof, by which it would be carried to the periphery of the roll 31 and cake or coat the same to an extent that it would interfere with the proper operation of the conveyer.

As shown in Fig. 2, these dirt guards are arranged approximately over the roll 31 and in position to accomplish this purpose.

Arranged behind the dirt guards 37 and beneath the upper run of the belt conveyer 33 is a dirt guard pan, designated generally by the numeral 40, and is shown detached in Fig. 7. This pan hasabottom 41 curved to conform to the curvature of the upper run of the belt conveyer, and side flanges 42 at the outer edges of the bottom: 4:1 aresecured to filler plates 43, which are secured to and extend upwardly from guide members 19 Within the front arm 20.

The lower forward edges 44 of the side flanges 42 are beveled or formedin a normally horizontal plane to -permit the toe-plate 30 to pass beneath these fianges whenever the shoe is slid backward relativeto'the scoop-structure, and also to permit the belt conveyer to be carried backward with the shoe.

Side extension plates 45 extend upward from the side guide members 19 and forwardly thereof to guide the ballast onto the belt conveyer. These guide members 45 extend downwardly to the upper edges of the shoe side members 25 and are shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 9.

It is desirable to have the shoe horizontally slidable relative to the scoop, in order to prevent injury thereto whenever the teeth or toe of the shoe strikes an obstruction. This is permitted by the slidable support for the shoe within the channels 23 in the supporting guide members 19, but in order to normally hold the shoe against such backward sliding movement, its side members 25 have a stop holder support 46 secured between the back ends thereof, as shown in Figs. 3 and/.4, and-is rigidly fixed thereto. The rear end of this support 46 carries a holder 47, within which a bushing 48 is mounted to receive a shear pin 49, which extends into the bushing 48 and is carried by a shoulder 50. at the lower end thereof, through which shoulder an extension 51 of the shear pin projects and isheld in place by a lock screw 52.

As shown in Figs. 5 and 6, the shear pin 49 is normally disposed immediately in front of an angle bar 53, which extends transversely between the guide members 19, and is fixed thereto. A stop plate 54 is supported by the angle bar 53 and which plate 54 is interposed between the bar and the shear pin 49. A bracing frame, designated generally by the numeral 55, is interposed between the guide members 19 for holding the back ends of said members in properly spaced relation, and the forward end of this bracing frame 55 is connected with the supporting bar 53.

Brackets 56 are supported upon the side channels 15 and carry side skirts 57, as shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 12, which skirts extend downward approximately to the surface of the conveyer to cooperate with the channel surface thereof to prevent the material from being forced off of the sides of the conveyer and to direct the material therealong, the elges of the belt conveyer 33 being projected through under the skirts 57.

The pulley 34, over which the belt conveyer 33 extends, is mounted on a shaft 58 journaled in bearing blocks 59, which are mounted in guides 60 and are adapted to be adjusted by screws 61 which extend through the guides and have their inner ends connected with the bearing blocks 59 for moving the same in the guides when the screws are turned.

The shaft 58 is driven by means of a chain 62, which extends over a sprocket wheel 63 fixed to the shaft 53, over an idle sprocket gear 64, around a driving sprocket gear 65, thence down to a tightening sprocket gear 66 supported by a bracket 67 at the bottom of the frame 7. bracket 67 has a slot 68 therein, through which bolts 69 extend for adjusting the position of the bracket 67 and for securing the same in such adjusted position to the bottom of the frame '7.

The other side of the chain 62 extends upwardly from the sprocket gear 66 and around a sprocket gear 70 to the underside of the sprocket gear 63. The sprocket gear '70 is supported by a bearing plate '71 extending downwardly from and fixed to a side of the inner channel member 15. The driving sprocket 65 is mounted on a shaft 72, which may be driven in any suitable manner, as for instance by bevel gearing '73 and a sprocket chain 74 from the main drive shaft 14.

As a further means of preventing the accumulation of dirt on the lower run of the belt conveyer. 33 and the caking thereof on the periphery of the roll 31, and to keep the surface of the belt conveyer clean, an air pipe '25 is provided in the shoe of the scoop, where it is held in place by a bracket or support '76.

The forward end of this pipe 75 extends laterally and along one of the side members 25, and is then bent across the shoe between the side members 25 forming a nozzle '77 held in place by clamps 78. The nozzle 77 is provided with perforations 79 therein, and in a side facing the under run of the conveyer, and these perforations are turned to be directed generally transversely of the belt conveyer so as to discharge generally across the same instead of longitudinally thereof. The pipe 75 is adapted to be connected with any suitable source of air under pressure, and an air compressor (not shown) may be mounted on the car 1 to supply this pipe if desired. The air is forced from the perforations 79 in the nozzle '77 against the underside of the conveyer belt to prevent any accumulation of dirt thereon and to prevent this dirt from being carried around the roll 31, to where it might sift over the edges of the belt conveyer and onto the periphery of the roll 31.

In the operation of the machine, the car 1 may be drawn along the track after the ballast has been thrown outwardly from between the ties, and with the scoop set in its proper or lowered position, the ballast is scooped up by the teeth 27 and is directed over the toe-plate 30 and onto the upper run of the belt conveyer 33, which directs the same upward and over the pulley 34 and discharges it onto the receiving conveyer 80, which transports the collected ballast and dirt to the screening mechanism for the machine.

The air blast from the nozzle 77 serves to clean the dirt from the underside of the belt conveyer 33, and the flanges 38 of the dirt guards 37 prevent dirt from passing over the edges of the conveyer belt 33 and onto the upper surface of the lower run thereof, or onto the roll 31. The dirt guard pan 40 is disposed beneath the upper run of the conveyer for the same purpose, and serves to direct the collected dirt and ballast properly along the scoop with the conveyer.

In the event that the teeth 27 should strike The a fixed obstruction or object which might cause injury thereto, the shear pin 49, being of a suitable material which is relatively soft or sufficiently so to be sheared off between the holder or support 4'7 and the plate 54, permits relative sliding movement between the shoe and the guide members 19, or permits the shoe to remain stationary while the scoop continues its forward movement, and is sufficient to prevent injury to the scoop until the machine can be stopped, which may be by means of an automatic connection between the shoe and the air brake system of the train, as set forth in my above-referred to application. For this purpose an air relief valve is shown at 80, connected with the air brake system, a portion of which is shown at 81, and a handle 82 projects from the valve into position to be moved by the shoe to open the valve when the shear pin breaks, which thus stops the machine and the locomotive.

Where it is desirable to adjust the scoop relative to the track, this is accomplished by turn ing the supporting screws 5, which feed the nuts 21 and 22 upwardly or downwardly therealong, and with them the scoop frame and the scoop mechanism.

The drive shaft '72 for the chain 62 being connected with its driving gearing on the car 1, and the idler sprocket gear 66 being adjustably fixed to the frame 7, while the bearing plate 71 and sprocket gears 64 and 70, as well as the sprocket wheel 63, are fixed to the side channels 15, these sprocket gears 70, 64 and 63 will move downwardly or upwardly relative to the sprocket gears 66 and 65 upon vertical adjustment of the scoop. This is permitted by the arrangement of the sprocket gears, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, by reason of the fact that upward or downward adjustment of the scoop merely shifts the sprocket gears 63, 64 and 70 relative to the sprocket gears 66 and '72, but otherwise maintains a driving relation between them by the chain 62, which permits a positive drive for the conveyer in any adjusted position, and the scoop may be adjusted while the conveyer is being driven.

While a single scoop has been described on one side of the machine, yet it is obvious that it will probably be desirable to use two scoops, one for each side of the machine, in order to scoop up the ballast at both sides of the track. This is contemplated by this invention, and the description of one scoop only is merely for purposes of illustration, but two or more scoops may be used if desired.

I- claim:

1. A scoop of the character described comprising side members, bracing bars arranged between the side members, guiding means supported by the bracing bars, an endless belt conveyer having a run thereof extending over the guiding means, said guiding means being arranged to direct the run of the conveyer supported thereby in generally channel shape, pulleys over which the opposite ends of the endless conveyer extend, a shoe supporting one of said pulleys, means for supporting the shoe for sliding movement relative to the side members, and scooping teeth carried by the shoe.

2. In a scoop of the character described, side channel members having upper flanged edges, bars extending between and secured to the channel members beneath the upper edges thereof, conveyer guiding means supported by the bars, a conveyer arranged over said guiding means, side skirt plates arranged over opposite side portions of the conveyer, and supporting brackets mounted on the fianged upper edges of the side-channel members and extending upwardly from the side channel members and supporting the skirt plates.

3. A scoop of the character described comprising side channel members, means arranged between and fixed to the side channel members for holding the same in spaced relation, conveyer guide means carried by said spacing means, an endless belt conveyer having a run thereof arranged over the guide means, pulleys for receiving the opposite ends of the belt conveyer, front and rear supporting arms connected with the side members, supporting nuts fixed to said arms, and screws threaded through the nuts for adjusting the height of the scoop.

4. In a scoop of the character described, an endless conveyer, a roll over which an end of said conveyer extends, and a dirt guard pan having a bottom portion within which a run of the conveyer extends and having side portions projecting above the major portion of said run of the conveyer.

5. In a scoop of the character described, an endless belt conveyer, a roll over which an end portion of said conveyer extends, and a dirt guard pan arranged adjacent said roll and having a channel shaped bottom portion, and side portions joined to the bottom portion and extending upwardly therefrom above adjacent portions of the conveyer.

6. In a scoop of the character described, an endless belt conveyer, a roll over which an end portion of said conveyor extends, a dirt guard pan arranged adjacent and behind said roll and having an approximately channel shaped bottom portion, and side portions joined to the bottom portion and extending upwardly therefrom, a run of said conveyer being arranged within the bottom of the dirt guard pan and between the sides thereof, said bottom of the pan in longitudinal section extending approximately diagonally of the sides thereof, and supporting means for the pan connected with the sides.

'7. In a scoop of the character described, an endless belt conveyer, a roll receiving an end of said conveyer, a scooping edge associated with the conveyer, means for directing material backward over an end of the conveyer, and dirt guards longitudinally overlapping portions of said directing means and having portions projecting inwardly over opposite sides of the conveyer approximately over the roll.

8. In a scoop of the character described, an endless belt conveyer, a roll receiving an end of said conveyer, a frame for the scoop, a scooping edge at the forward portion of the frame and associated with the end of the conveyer, means for directing material from said scooping edge backward over the end of the conveyer, and dirt guards supported by the frame in longitudinal overlapping relation with portions of said directing means and having portions arranged approximately in longitudinal alignment with the upper surface of said directing means and forming a continuation thereof, said portions of the dirt guards extending over opposite sides of the conveyer.

9. A scoop of the character described comprising a frame, a shoe slidably connected with the frame for movement longitudinally thereof, a holder carried by the shoe and having a socket therein provided witha shoulder, a shear pin removably seated on the shoulder in the socket, and means carried by the frame in position to bear against an edge of the shear pin to shear off said pin when the shoe meets a relatively immovable obstruction.

10. A scoop of the character described comprising scooping means, a conveyor associated with the scooping means and extending backwardly therefrom, a pulley receiving an end of the conveyer, a shaft on which said pulley is mounted, bearings for the shaft, a sprocket wheel fixed to the shaft, a driving sprocket, a supporting frame carrying said driving sprocket, an idle sprocket carried by a lower portion of said frame, idle sprockets arranged between the driving and firstmentioned idle sprockets, and connected with the conveyer for adjustment therewith, a sprocket chain extending over the sprockets, and means for adjusting the conveyer vertically relative to the frame.

11. In a scoop of the character described, the combination of a supporting structure, an endless conveyer, a roll having a cylindrical surface receiving the entire width of an end of said conveyer in a flat position, means receiving the upper run of the conveyer from said roll and guiding the same in channel shape, and a dirt guard having a portion overlapping an edge of the conveyer approximately over the roll only between the channel shaped portion and the end of the upper run, said guard having an upstanding supporting portion carried by the supporting structure, the overlapping portion extending laterally from said supporting portion.

12. In a scoop of the character described, the combination of a supporting structure, an endless conveyer, a roll having a cylindrical surface receiving the entire width of an end of said conveyer in a fiat position, means receiving the upper run of the conveyer from said roll and guiding the same in channel shape, and a dirt guard having a portion overlapping an edge of the conveyer approximately over the roll only between the channel shaped portion and the end of the upper run, said guard having an upstanding supporting portion carried by the supporting structure, the overlapping portion extending laterally from said supporting portion, and scooping means arranged in front of the conveyer in position in direct material backward into the conveyer.

13. In a scoop of the character described, the combination of an endless conveyer, a roll receiving an end of said conveyer, scooping means having a material directing surface extending in overlapping relation with the conveyer, a shoe supporting the roll and backwardly movable relative to the main portion of the conveyer, and a fixed dirt guard arranged in overlapping relation with an edge of the conveyer, said guard having the lowermost edge thereof arranged above the uppermost edge of the material directing surface to permit said surface to pass under the dirt guard during backward movement of the shoe.

14. In a scoop of the character described, the combination of an endless conveyer. a roll receiving an end of the conveyer, and fixed dirt guards arranged in overlapping relation with the r edges of the conveyer both under and over the conveyer, said under and over guards being located in different zones spaced longitudinally of the conveyer.

15. In a scoop of the character described, the combiantion of an endless conveyer, a roll receiving an end of the conveyer, fixed dirt guards arranged in overlapping relation with the edges of the conveyer both under and over the conveyer, a shoe supporting the roll and backwardly movable relative to the main portion of the conveyer, said shoe having scooping means provided with a material directing surface extending in overlaping relation with the conveyer, the upper edge of said surface being below the dirt guards in position to pass under the guards in backward movement of the shoe.

16.'In a scoop of the character described, the combination of an endless conveyer, scooping means having a material directing surface overlapping the upper run of the conveyer at the forward end thereof, and a nozzle arranged beneath said surface in position for directing fluid under pressure over the under surface of the under run at said forward end of the conveyer. 

